John's 9 months old!

Yesterday, John turned 9 months old. I could have had a whole other baby in that time, so he’s been my little man for quite a while now. And I have loved every moment of it… :)

We went to the PD on Saturday for his routine check and he’s doing very well. He’s now 73.5cm tall and 9.5kg (gasp!) - No wonder my arms feel like breaking every time I carry him for more than 10 minutes. He’s teething again BIG TIME. Teeth number 5 and 6 have made their appearance. He’s not overly cranky or anything, just drooooooooooling loads, so mummy’s got to pack in a couple more tops when we go out. He refuses to wear a bib, so that makes mealtimes a really messy affair. When we try to put one on, he yanks at it so hard it causes scratches on the back of his neck. We’ve decided that more laundry is better than scratches so the bibs have been put aside for now.

Talking about food, John’s been eating relatively well. His favourite food BY FAR is yogurt. He has a whole cup of yogurt (organic natural yogurt) for lunch everyday and we put in fruit and ground seeds in for added nutrition. I buy a kilogram of yogurt a week for him… that’s how much he loves it. He also loves his fruits on their own, like apple, pear, mango and papaya. He also takes some vegetables well… like sweet potato, avocado, carrots and pumpkin. He doesn’t mind chye sim when it’s mixed with something else and he absolutely HATES asparagus. He’s not a fan of fish but likes egg yolk. Oh and he’s also decided he doesn’t really like rice.

He’s still on breastmilk most of the day, but I feed him one bottle of formula now just to get him used to something else so it won’t be so hard on him when I hang up my nursing bra (hopefully when he’s 1).

One thing that has amazes me is how John’s such a social creature. He lets everyone carry him and smiles at complete strangers He even ‘talks’ to them sometimes. He’s a hit with the staff at restaurants, with the other mummies and domestic helpers at the park, with everyone in church, which is great for us. :)

Developmentally, he’s also come such a long way. James’ cousin came by with her bub last week and commented on how John’s so active… she likened him to a Duracell bunny! Here’s a video of him doing the "100m baby sprint" – with a few distractions along the way.

He’s also moving around so fast now we’ve had to baby proof the house over the weekend. He prefers to stand and does so at any chance he gets. He can do so unsupported for about a second before he falls to the ground. He can also stoop down before getting back onto the floor.

John’s favourite game is peek-a-boo and loves anything that makes a loud noise like a tin can or a plastic container full of peanuts. He loves a cuddle in between his toys and we’re glad to give him that.

When I look at how John’s grown, I’m just amazed at how God’s put so much thought into us humans when he designed us. It just shows how much He loves us. Also, when I think about how much I love my baby, I can only think about how much more God our Father loves us. I just pray that I will be the mother God wants me to be and that I will bring up my son in the ways of the Lord.